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Editor’s Note
To Your Good Health
Thoughts on the role of architects in
shaping a healthy built environment
by Larry Paul Fuller

I

n this edition about design for healthcare
and wellness, we look at good buildings
of both types. But the role of architects in
public health goes far beyond their work
on the hospitals, clinics, and fitness facilities routinely associated with these two categories. The broader purview includes their role in
shaping more livable, sustainable, and healthy
communities — the premise being that there is a
direct correlation between the design of a community and the health of its people.

recreation. At least partly because of Jackson’s
campaigning, architects are also having a direct
influence on public health through a very simple
but effective design tactic: restoring stairs to their
traditional primary role (pre-elevator) by making

more ardent and articulate spokesman for this premise than Dr. Richard Jackson,
M.D., Professor and Chair of Environmental
Health Sciences at the UCLA School of Public
Health, and a former public member of the
AIA Board of Directors. In his four-hour PBS
series, Designing Healthy Communities, and the
companion book of the same name — as well as
in frequent lectures to relevant professional and
civic groups — Jackson makes his case. His most
compelling themes relate to the fact that American obesity is epidemic, and that this malady
raises the risk of heart disease, stroke, and an
epidemic of life-shortening diabetes. He further
observes, first, that nothing works better to
counter these epidemics than increased physical
activity. And, second, this key objective is aided
through urban design that favors such benefits
as safe and inviting routes for daily walking or
biking, and open spaces with clean air for active

them more prominent and more inviting.
But we shouldn’t forget the less direct impact
architects have on health as a composite of both
physical and mental conditions. Regardless of
the presence or absence of disease, daily living is
made better by the efficacy of good design. In his
review of the Hodge Orr House in Dallas (page
30), for example, Michael Malone, AIA, refers to
the “gift of well-being” that comes with experiencing the inspired design of the house. Indeed,
the built spaces we find most satisfying emerge
from design that transcends mere competence.
And in that regard, their buoyant effect on our
sense of well-being can be seen as a special gift.
Not exactly the gift of wellness, perhaps. But
pretty close.

There is no

Regardless of the presence or
absence of disease, daily living
is made better by the efficacy of
good design.

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL MORAN

The simple tactic of restoring stairs to a primary
(rather than secondary or
tertiary) role by making
them more prominent and
more inviting is one way
architects can encourage
physical activity. Case in
point: this grand-stairas-skylit-experience in
AMOA-Arthouse in Austin, by LTL Architects,
New York.

7/8 2012

Texas Architect 5

Contributors

Val Glitsch, FAIA,

Brian L. Freese, AIA,

Dan A. Killebrew, AIA,

is a partner at FKP
Architects in Dallas
and leads design and
planning in the community health market.
A passionate educator and mentor, his
contributions beyond
“practitioner” have
included teaching the
Healthcare Thesis
Studio in the Graduate College of Architecture at Texas Tech
University. See his
article on Northwood
Fitness on page 56.

6 Texas Architect

takes great pride in
being an Oklahoma
Sooner, but not so
much that it keeps
him from continually attending Texas
Architects conferences
to try to figure out just
what Texas architects
are all about. President of Freese Architecture in Tulsa, Brian
admires the culture
and the architecture
of the Lone Star state,
as well as the camaraderie that binds
architects together.
When not pondering
the immensity of the
universe or exalting
the wonders of nature,
he can be interrupted
from casual reading,
playing with his dogs,
or killing brain cells in
the gym. Remember
his picture; you may
see him at the convention in October.
Meanwhile, see his
article on Chickasaw Nation Medical
Center, page 38.

7/8 2012

began her really serious involvement with
Texas Architects by
joining the Publications Committee in
1997. After twelve
years of traveling
to Austin every two
months to hang out
with her favorite Texas
Architects members
(under the pretense
of working on the
magazine), she became
a contributing editor.
Now she enjoys writing about her favorite
new buildings in and
around Houston. She
happily agreed to
review the new Tellepsen Y (see page 50),
because, she says, “ just
being in the building
makes me feel like I’m
working out.”

Michael Malone, AIA,

Gin Kappler-Peeler,
AIA, gains

escape
through the lens of
her camera and by
teaching her son to
explore the world of
art and possibilities.
An avid vintage lego
collector, with tens of
thousands of bricks at
arm’s reach, she has
just finished a severalyear project with her
son, creating a superhero universe for his
room in the form of a
120-sf wall mural. It
hosts over 30 figures
and cityscapes on the
moon, Metrolpolis,
and Gotham – all
meticulously detailed
in Sharpe marker.
On page 44, KapplerPeeler writes about the
CHRISTUS Moran
Health Center.

has had children in
elementary school
for twenty joyful
years. But no longer.
During those years, he
could often be found
volunteering at his
beloved Armstrong
Elementary. Recently
awarded a Lifetime
Achievement Award
by the PTA, Malone
served the school by
chairing auctions and
carnivals, fundraising
for a new playground,
being president of
the Dad’s Club,
volunteering in the
cafeteria, and serving
as a room parent every
year he had a child
in attendance. He is
pictured here with his
two recent carnival
co-chairs, Elizabeth
Moundas and Bettina
Hill. Read his article
on the Hodge Orr
House in Dallas on
page 30.

enrolls at UT
Austin in 1950. His
Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Humanities Building
(1969) at Texas Southern
University is one of several
Chase commissions from
TSU. Chase in 1996.

Zion church is a conservative neo-Romanesque
design. This was in contrast to Chase’s characteristic work through the mid-1960s, which
displayed his admiration for the Usonian architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Churches, physicians’ office buildings, labor union locals, and
houses, almost all designed for African American
clients, were the building types Chase most frequently produced in the 1950s and ‘60s.
first commission from the
regents of Texas Southern University—for an
athletic dormitory—in 1959. In the 1960s, ‘70s,
and ‘80s his office designed the Martin Luther
King, Jr., Humanities Building (1969), the Ernest
S. Sterling Student Center (1976), the Thurgood
Marshall School of Law (1976), the School of
Education Building (1981), and the General Services Building (1983) at TSU. With the dismantling of legal segregation in the second half of the
1960s, Chase was able to secure public commissions for the design of fire stations, branch
libraries, and neighborhood health centers from
the City of Houston and for schools from the
Houston Independent School District. During
the 1970s Chase’s practice expanded as he
collaborated on such multi-firm projects as the
George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston (1987), alterations to the Astrodome (1989),
the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (1992), and
the Toyota Arena in Houston (2003). Chase also
produced work in Washington, D.C., including the Life Science Building at the University
of the District of Columbia’s Van Ness campus
Chase received his

John S. Chase was the first
African American to graduate
from the architecture program at
UT Austin.
(1979) and the rehabilitation of townhouses in
northwest Washington as national headquarters for the Links, Inc., and Delta Sigma Theta
sorority. His firm designed the San Antonio
Garage (1994) and the Mike A. Myers Track and
Soccer Stadium (1999) at UT Austin and the US
Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia (1995), although the
embassy was not constructed. Among the many
architects Chase mentored are Darrell Fitzgerald, FAIA, of Atlanta and Daniel W. Bankhead,
AIA, of Houston.
From 1980 to 1984 he served on the US Commission of Fine Arts by appointment of president
Jimmy Carter. He received the Distinguished
Alumnus Award from the University of Texas
Ex-Students Association in 1992 and in 1998
served as president of the organization. In 2007
the AIA Houston Chapter honored Chase by
donating a tea service by Aldo Rossi to the
Design Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts,
Houston, in his name. In 2005 the Teachers State
Association of Texas Building in Austin became
the first Chase-designed building to be listed in
the National Register of Historic Places.
TA contributing editor Stephen Fox is a Fellow of the
Anchorage Foundation of Texas.

John Saunders Chase died in Houston on March
29, 2012, at the age of 87. Chase was the first
African American to enroll in and graduate from
the architecture program at the University of
Texas at Austin (MArch 1952), the first African
American to be registered as an architect in
Texas (1954), the first architect of his race in
Texas to become a member of the American
Institute of Architects (1954), and also the first
architect of his race in Texas to be elected to
Fellowship in the AIA (1990). He practiced in
Houston from 1952 until the mid 2000s.
Chase was born in Annapolis, Maryland. He
received his BS in Architectural Engineering
in 1948 from what is now Hampton University
in Hampton, Virginia. In a 2008 interview
with Amy Maverick Crossette published by UT
Austin, Chase recalled that he first worked for
an architecture firm in Annapolis and, after
graduating from Hampton, another in Philadelphia before taking a job with the Lott Lumber
Company in Austin in 1949, where he was the
company’s in-house residential designer. In June
1950, Chase enrolled in the master’s program at
UT; he was one of the first two African American students to gain admission to the university
just days after the US Supreme Court ruled that
racial segregation practices affecting higher
education were unconstitutional. It was while he
was a student at the university that he met and
married Drucie Rucker of Austin. They would
become the parents of three children.
On graduating, Chase moved his family to
Houston, where he taught architectural drafting
at Texas Southern University, Houston’s historically black state university. Unable to find a job
with any architect in Houston, Chase opened his
own office. The Texas Board of Architectural
Examiners waived its internship requirements
so that he could take the architectural licensing exam, which he passed in July 1954. One of
Chase’s earliest buildings is the one-story office
building he designed on Navasota Street in east
Austin in 1952-53 as the headquarters of the
Teachers State Association of Texas, the African
American public school teachers professional
association. He told Crossette that in Houston he and his wife toured African American
churches, meeting pastors and lay leaders, who
responded by commissioning churches, such as
the Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church
(1954-55) in Houston’s Third Ward. The Greater

David Dillon Symposium Inaugurated in
Dallas
by Lawrence Connolly, AIA

A distinguished group of architecture journalists assembled in Dallas at the end of April to
inaugurate the David Dillon Symposium at the
Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Museum.
Former New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger headlined the two-day event and established the tone as keynote speaker on the state
of architecture journalism. Goldberger engaged
the museum audience of 250 regarding how the
dynamics of journalism have changed and spoke
about the legacy of David Dillon (1947-2010).
He praised his old friend and colleague as an
effective interpreter of Dallas architecture whose
advocacy made it a better city.
organized by Kate Holliday,
an assistant professor at UT Arlington and the
director of the newly established David Dillon
Center for Texas Architecture. The center was
made possible by Dillon’s widow, Sally, who in
2011 donated David’s archive to the special collections of the school.
The second day, the symposium with 100
attendees moved to the Nasher Museum where
the morning session — with panelists Scott
Cantrell of DMN, Stephen Fox of the Anchorage Foundation, and Benjamin Lima from
UT Arlington — discussed “The Tradition of
Criticism in Texas.” The afternoon panel —
Thomas Fisher, dean of the College of Design at
the University of Minnesota and former editor
of Progressive Architecture; Goldberger; Christopher
Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times; Alexandra Lange,
Design Observer; and Stephen Sharpe, former
editor of Texas Architect — discussed various
The symposium was

aspects of critical journalism today and weighed
the likelihood that those writing criticism could
expect to make a living at it. Most critics, Fisher
pointed out, can only do so with schools of architecture as an economic base.
The participants all agreed that good criticism helps shape better cities through critiques
of architecture, but also through critiques of
urban development and neighborhoods. Given
the vacuum created by the absence of a fulltime architecture critic at any daily newspaper
in Texas, it becomes all the more important to

Given the vacuum created by
the absence of a full-time
architecture critic at any daily
newspaper in Texas, it becomes
all the more important to
continue the rapport that Dillon
established.
continue the rapport that Dillon established with
Dallas and the region through his writings about
architecture and urbanism. The creation of the
David Dillon Center for Architecture, under
Holliday’s leadership, will help fill that void.
Lawrence Connolly, AIA, is a contributing editor of
Texas Architect.

Thousands of architects and design professionals
convened in Washington, D.C., for the American
Institute of Architects Convention and Design
Exposition, May 17-19.
The opening-day general session featured historian and best-selling author David
McCullough, who stated, “History, however
expressed, is an antidote to the hubris of the
present, and we will be judged by history no less
than those who went before us.” Architecture,
he explained, is a way to uniquely access history
and human accomplishments of all kinds.
During the May 18 general session, HUD
Secretary Shaun Donovan, a Harvard-trained
architect, issued a plea for urban design activism. Donovan called on the AIA to encourage
re-engagement with troubled neighborhoods in
urban areas.
Also during the convention, delegates
approved two bylaws amendments and 11 resolutions. Bylaws Amendment 12-A changes the
eligibility requirements for Emeritus membership and Bylaws Amendment 12-B authorizes
the Board of Directors to establish a new International Region, including all geographic areas
outside the United States and its territories.
In addition, the AIA released its guide to
the International Green Construction Code
(IgCC), which is available to all members free of
charge. The guide defines the IgCC and outlines
the AIA’s long involvement with the initiative.
It explains the structure and mechanics of the
code, and its potential effects on the design
and practice of architecture. It also contains a
chapter on how to advocate for the IgCC to local
code officials and elected leaders.
National election results included Helene
Combs Dreiling, FAIA, from AIA Blue Ridge
in Virginia, elected as 2013 First Vice President
and 2014 President-Elect; and Don Brown,
FAIA, from AIA Montgomery, elected as 201314 AIA vice president.
More convention highlights and details can
be found at www.convention.aia.org.

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News
Calendar

The Texas Architects
Annual Convention and
Design Expo will be held
at the Austin Convention
Center October 18-20.
The three-day event offers
a wealth of new programs
and features.

DCFA Hosts ‘Lost Dallas’
Thru July 13
www.dallascfa.com
The Dallas Center for Architecture presents
the exhibition “Lost Dallas,” in celebration of
the publication of a new book by historian Mark
Doty. With images drawn from a wide range of
sources, including private collections, the Dallas
Morning News archive, and the City of Dallas

73rd annual
convention and
design expo

municipal archive, “Lost Dallas” explores those
buildings, neigh-

18–20 october
2012

borhoods, and
places that have

austin convention center

been lost and even
forgotten since
the city’s modest
beginnings in the
1840s.
TFA Wood Design Nominations Due
Due Aug 1
www.texasforestry.com
The Texas Forestry Association is seeking nominations for its annual Excellence in Wood Design
Award. The program recognizes outstanding
achievement in project designs using wood and
wood products in Texas. Nominations are open
to projects in Texas that have been completed

Registration Opens Mid July for Texas
Architects Convention
Online registration opens mid July for the Texas
Society of Architects Convention and Design
Expo, October 18-20, in Austin. This year, the
convention’s theme is “Influence.”
Keynote speakers are Robert Hammond,
co-founder and co-executive director of Friends
of the High Line – a public park built above
an abandoned, elevated rail line in New York
— and Roman Mars, award-winning host and
radio producer of 99% Invisible.

within the last five years. Awards are given in the
following categories: Institutional, Commercial,

IMAGES COURTESY DALLAS CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURE AND THE TEXAS CHAPTER
OF THE INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE AND CLASSICAL AMERICA.

Residential, and Special Projects.

Call for Entries: John Staub Awards
Due Aug 15
www.classicist-texas.org
The Texas Chapter of the Institute of Classical
Architecture and Classical America announces
its annual John Staub Awards program, which
celebrates excellence in design and craftsmanship in the classical and vernacular traditions.
All Texas Chapter members are encouraged
to submit projects for consideration. Projects
completed within the last ten years are eligible
and do not need to be located in Texas.

Convention Committee,
chaired by Heather McKinney, FAIA, is pleased
to introduce the following convention features
and new events:
• LEED Credit – For the first time, attendees can
receive LEED credit for select Continuing
Education sessions.
• Focus on Emerging Professionals – Specific
tracks have been developed for emerging
Professionals, including ARE classes for those
seeking help with upcoming tests; “fireside
chats” with some of Texas’ most influential
and engaging architects; and an evening
mixer on the roof of AMOA-Arthouse in
downtown Austin.
• Town Square – Relax in the Expo Hall at the
“town square,” which will feature an Austin
food trailer, picnic tables, live music, drinks,
and snacks.
• Design Awards Panel – Jurors and the recipients of this year’s Design Awards will discuss
winning projects in a series of two Continuing Education sessions. This year’s program
yielded 13 winners in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.
The Texas Architects

•

– In addition to a variety of
compelling Austin architecture tours, attendees will have an opportunity to be the first to
see the rebuilt and enlarged Texas Governor’s
Mansion and to have a hard-hat tour of the
new U.S Courthouse right before it is completed and closed to the public.
• Architects’ Reading Room – A book signing and meet-and-greet with several Texas
authors, hosted by AIA Austin (see page 20
for a preview).
• 20 x 20 @ Chicon - An under-the-radar (check
your social media for info because you won’t
find it otherwise) “Pecha Kucha” event hosted
at the Texas Society of Architects offices.
Open to convention attendees and the public,
the event will have limited capacity, but the
buzz will be big.
• Gala Evening – Hear Cornerstone Award
recipient Liz Lambert discuss her creative
restoration and reinvention of a motor hotel
into the hip and trendy Hotel San Jose, which
became a catalyst to much of the change on
South Congress Avenue over a decade ago.
Before the Gala, hear “Frozen Music”—
short, student-composed musical works
inspired by the architectural process.
50% More Tours

to the convention before, this
is the year to test drive the experience. We’ve
been listening to you and to our attendees, and
we’ve had lots of fun stuffing the convention with
great new opportunities. Austin prides itself on
being unconventional, so get ready for an unconventional convention,” says McKinney.
Don’t miss out! Register online mid July to
attend the convention, and watch for continuing
updates on www.texasarchitects.org.
“If you haven’t been

7/8 2012

Texas Architect 13

Recognition

1

2

3

4

Texas Firms among AIA COTE Award Winners

On April 19, the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment (AIA–
COTE) announced its Top Ten projects for 2012.
This year’s batch of winners highlights community ties, social equity, and attentiveness to water
issues. One Texas firm and three national/international firms with offices in Texas are among
the winners.
“These projects really demonstrate that you
don’t need a client with bottomless pockets or a
purely pedagogical mission related to sustainability,” wrote one juror. Another juror emphasized the enduring importance of buildings that
inspire people and connect neighborhoods: “It is
the true measure of sustainability—the fact that
a project becomes so embraced by its community
that its value far exceeds the value of a conventionally designed building.”

1 ASU Polytechnic Academic District

BNIM

This pedestrian-oriented campus in Mesa, Arizona, replaced a decommissioned Air Force
base. The design team resolved longstanding
flooding issues by supplanting 14 acres of asphalt and concrete with naturalized habitats.
“Extroverted circulation” in protected atria
and courtyards optimizes the available space,
providing outdoor connections and gathering
spaces while also reducing construction costs
and minimizing the amount of impervious
surface.

A singular focus on responsible use of resources—both natural systems and taxpayer funds—
led to this ultra-high-performance building in
Des Moines, Iowa, that boasts an energy use
intensity of 22. In a state that has experienced a
number of recent devastating floods, stormwater management was a prime consideration;
native prairie habitat re-established over infiltration basins treats stormwater on site while
also serving as green space.
Other 2012 Winners

2 1315 Peachtree Street
Perkins+Will

This project entailed the transformation of a
conventional 1986 building in Atlanta into a
high-performance office space and demonstration project incorporating daylighting,
an open office plan, rainwater catchment,
high-performance glazing, and photovoltaics.
Reducing reliance on the region’s coaldominated energy mix through a grid-tied
trigeneration system (combined heating,
cooling, and power) helped the project achieve
aggressive carbon targets.
3 Chandler City Hall
SmithGroupJJR

The team behind this municipal building
strove to reinvigorate a Phoenix suburb’s historic downtown by bringing the city government into one central building. The goal: to
foster community identity and seed economic
development. Community art projects integrated within the building and site bring
awareness to sustainability features.

14 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

4 Iowa Utilities Board Office of Consumer Advocate

Lake|Flato Architects

Hood River Middle School Music and Science
Building
Opsis Architecture
Kensington High School for the Creative and
Performing Arts
SMP Architects
Mercy Corps Headquarters
THA Architecture
Portland Community College Newburg Center
Hennebery Eddy Architects
University of California–Merced Campus
UC–Merced
University of Minnesota–Duluth Classroom Building
Salmela Architect

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AIA Austin’s 2012 Design Awards competition
resulted in recognition for 15 projects in three
categories out of a total of 112 entries.

2

3

Honor

Citations of Honor

1 The Bike Shed

Chimney Corners

Minguell-McQuary

Webber + Studio, Architects

This Bike Shed addition is phase one of an
ongoing residential renovation. The addition
has the flexibility to function as a guesthouse,
temporary apartment, entertaining area, and
future master suite. It also addresses the client’s
intense cycling needs, both displaying and storing his custom bike collection. A courtyard-like
layout addresses a need for privacy.

Residence 1446

2 Ottmers Residence
Vincent Snyder Architects

Located on an ancestral family ranch in the
Texas Hill Country, and in keeping with
ranching tradition, the design originated
from the re-use of an existing foundation
slab. Overlooking a cattle tank to the south,
a reflective metal shield protects the primary
structure while creating interstitial zones of
outdoor space.
3 Balcones House
Pollen Architecture & Design

The house perches on the echelon of the
Balcones Fault, a series of broken limestone
cliffs. The house revives the modest cruciform
plan of a previous mid-century house on the
site; a light-filled plaster-walled volume slides
behind. Careful solar design optimizes daylight and shade/solar gain. The position of the
house provides views uphill into the garden
or downhill into the treetops. Materials, such
as locally-sourced quarter-sawn pine boards,
concrete and plaster were selected for identity
and tactility.

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7/8 2012

Texas Architect 17

Paperwork

Health Center, El Cantón, Honduras
Global Architecture Brigades chapter at The University
of Texas School of Architecture

A small health center for the agrarian village of
El Cantón in Honduras is being constructed as
the implementation of the winning entry in the
“Building Health Challenge” design competition
staged in January by Global Architecture Brigades among its university chapters nationwide.
The winning scheme was submitted by the Brigades chapter at The University of Texas School
of Architecture, whose entry was selected by the
mayor and community of El Cantón over designs
from 14 other schools, including four additional
finalists: Northwestern University, University of
Virginia, Catholic University of America, and
Virginia Tech. Because of El Cantón’s central
location, the new health center will benefit a
total of 12 communities, providing access to
basic health care to nearly 5,000 people.

18 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

IMAGES COURTESY GLOBAL ARCHITECTURE BRIGADES CHAPTER AT UTSOA.

near the
town center, the structure is conceived as a
permanent and sustainable professional health
care center that can house a full-time nurse
and provide examination rooms for visiting
doctors, dentists, and surgeons. The steep slope
dictated a split-level approach that separates the
public patient waiting areas from the private
treatment rooms with a 5-foot shift in elevation. Multiple roof configurations are designed
to collect water for primary clinical use as well
as for outdoor sinks and bathrooms. Roofs also
provide extensive sun cover year-round and
accommodate Photovoltaic panels for electrical
power. To facilitate low-tech construction, the
roof truss is designed with standard sizes and a
Sited on steeply sloping donated land

modest material palette that exploits concrete,
wood, and CMU block. Windows were articulated to create breezes for ventilation. Creation
of the second-level space anticipates a seamless
connection to the site’s next planned phase for a
community center.
Global Architecture Brigades is the largest
student-led initiative dedicated to the design
and construction of responsible and sustainable
architectural solutions in the developing world.
A key facet of the program is the opportunity
for design students to learn by assisting with
construction in the field.
The health center project team included:
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Awino, Ian Robertson, Jorge Martinez, Maite
Bermudez, Matthew Dubin, Megan Matthews,
Melissa Jones, Michaela Wright, Nan Jiang,
Parker Thompson, Ryan McCulloch, Tyler
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Like the other two books highlighted here, everyday, by Leonard Volk, will be part of the featured
activities (including book-signings by authors)
in the AIA-Austin-hosted Reading Room at
the Texas Society of Architects Convention
and Design Expo in Austin October 18-20. In
this lovingly assembled compilation of his own
images, retired Dallas architect Leonard Volk,
FAIA Emeritus, organizes his work into six
major categories: on artists, on seeing, on taking,
on communication, on editing and printing, and
everyday. These sections give a structure to photographs that he says “were made for personal
satisfaction — collectively an enthusiast’s view
of his world, one man’s photographic exploration of his time and place.” And as photos, they
are powerfully captivating. But as the section
names imply, the book goes beyond his photos
to include his words — eloquent and insightful
essays not only about the images, but about the
process of capturing them.
This book is a treasure for aspiring — even
accomplished — photographers. And for anyone
who just wants to look at the pictures — over and
over again.

I am predisposed to like any book described as
“A practical guide….”
This book did not disappoint. Scrubbed
free of architecteze and self-aggrandizement,
the book offers simple, solid advice. Aimed at
the architect (or future architect) reader, it is a
primer that can teach even old dogs new tricks.
I’ve been designing residential projects for 30
years and my heart still quickened in Chapter
One when Malone describes the difficulties of
making a successful career “doing houses.” His
antidotal cocktail conversations with would-be
house architects hit home (no pun intended). It
is hard to practice residential architecture but I
can promise you that this book will help you not
only avoid the classic and unique pitfalls; it will
give you plenty of tools in explaining the process
to your clients. It is full of lessons learned, laid
out in a straightforward manner and aided by a
thorough index at the end for those who are in a
hurry and need to cut to the chase.
The best part, for me, was the six case studies. Malone is a fine designer and the use of his
own projects to illustrate points was helpful and
pleasant.
I liked this book so much, I’m going to
encourage everyone in my office to read it…just
as soon as I’m ready to let loose of it myself.

Hickie

Larry Paul Fuller, TA guest editor

Heather McKinney, FAIA

20 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

University of Texas Press - Austin (2012)

Architects are faced with the reality that we
are an Aging Society. Among the challenges
of this future is the preference of people to “age
in place,” living at home, in the same neighborhood. Our suitable homes today will not accommodate our needs as we age.
Former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros,
along with Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain and
Jane Hickie, have produced this volume addressing these issues. We cannot escape the changes in
our society that will call for housing for a people
who prefer to live where they want, without
regard to age or ability.
For the architect, the book presents in-depth
chapters on the home environment and technology for single- and multi-family housing. The
future will call for new architectural thinking.
The book is a necessary resource for architects describing aging in place priorities and the
principles that will guide the design profession in
addressing this demographic shift.
John V. Nyfeler, FAIA

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David Webster George
Working Outside of Time
article by Joe Self, AIA
photography by Holly Reed

24 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

T

ucked back in the woods, at the end
of a winding path, is an architect
working outside of time. But David
Webster George, FAIA, arranges
patterns and places that are timeless. The unassuming approach to his house in
Southlake masks the carefully situated environment he created in 1986, followed by a studio
addition in 1991. Deer, coyote, and wild turkey
roam the property. David is quick to point out
that he resides within the Cross Timbers — a
densely packed oak and scrub-bush region that
extends from North Texas in a broad swath
through Oklahoma and up into Kansas. For
David, boundaries are set by nature and not by
governments.
The threads of a life in architecture are
difficult to gather. The work of David George
deserves at least a monograph and this essay
can only hint at the wide-ranging set of experiences, for more than six decades, expressed in his
buildings.
David’s architecture is marked by a pattern
of modules and of articulated edges that define
particular places. The module is generally
expressed as a 32” plan grid that subdivides into
construction elements such as modular brick
and expands, oftentimes, as repeated structural

or spatial bays. Structures are further explored
so that edges and seams can be opened up in
unexpected ways — usually to let light into the
interior. His work seems to have undergone
several phases over time, but the devotion to a
module and the exploration of articulated edges
is a recurring focus. These formal and constructional strategies are, however, only tools in
support of a larger system – a belief in organic
architecture. Blending into the surrounding
landscape with local material and color, using
construction methods compatible with the site,
and employing efficient building systems are his
ways of creating organic architecture. The Lake
Cottage project of 1966 may be one of David’s
best examples of an architecture that blends into
the surroundings.
are also explored to support
the larger aim of creating visual continuity. For
example, a folded-plate roof system is often used
so that a ridge beam is not needed at the peak
of interior spaces — allowing the ceiling to flow
uninterrupted from plane to plane. The Lake
Cottage interior of 1966 illustrates this feature.
The same type of structure is used at the George
Studio and at the Preston Hollow House (see
page 30 of this issue) so that the upper reach
Structural systems

of the gable ends can be voided and made into
high windows. In the Moormon House of 1960
(search “David George Architect” on YouTube),
the peak of the building has no ridge-beam and
is defined by a row of structural members and
a continuous skylight. This detail also occurs
in the Red Apple Inn and Country Club of
1966. Another common feature in his work is
the creation of a skylight where the roof meets
a chimney. A skylight in this position creates a
flood of natural light down the face of the fireplace, a feature that can be seen at the George
Residence. Each of these examples shows how
continuity of structure, with modules or repeated
patterns, is exploited to open up edges and seams
for light.
In detailing a building, David says he tends
to “eliminate complications” to obtain the most
primitive version of a detail, allowing him to
keep closer to the origin of materials. He stresses,
however, that to make a building look natural
requires a remarkable amount of effort and time.
One recurring detail is a hinged flap between
exposed rafters that allows cross-breezes to flow
over and above large plate-glass windows. David
sees fireplaces as a site for more than just fire. He
creates broad openings that can also house wood
stacks, art and — during the heat of Texas’ summers — an array of candles. For David, details
emerge from how one lives.
Devising a repetitive structure that allows for
gaps at the edges, and reducing details to their
essence, requires a “thinking and doing” method
of design that is paramount to David. He’s
impressed with what can be done with comput-

ers but has studiously avoided them, fearing they
would short-circuit his process. He favors what
he terms a “scatterbrain” approach that others
might call free association. “Wandering is good,”
David says, meaning it’s essential to be willing
to interrupt the design
process for the good of
the project. He’ll do
this during the working drawing phase and
during construction if
an insight will bring
clarity to the building. To illustrate this point, he cites Frank Lloyd
Wright’s tendency to constantly question, update,
and revise his designs, buildings, and publications.

In detailing a building, David says he tends to
“eliminate complications” so as to obtain the most
primitive version of a detail, allowing him to keep
closer to the origin of materials.

to mention Frank
Lloyd Wright from time to time because he was
an apprentice to Mr. Wright at Taliesin in 1947.
David had finished part of his architectural education at the University of Oklahoma and, after
serving as a 36th Division artillery officer during
WWII, traveled to Wisconsin with a friend and
the friend’s father. On a whim they decided to
visit Wright’s home and studio in Spring Green.
Upon arrival, they learned that Wright was
taking a nap and they would have to wait if they
wanted to visit with him. His companions chose
to go on their way, but David decided to wait,
had the visit with Wright, and was invited to
become an apprentice.
At Taliesin in Wisconsin during the summer,
and at Taliesin West in Arizona during the
David George has standing

This spread, left to

ARCHIVAL BLACK AND WHITE IMAGES COURTESY DAVID WEBSTER GEORGE, FAIA

right David George with
development sketches of a
current residential project.
Continuous open seam at
roof ridge, Red Apple Inn.
Gap between roof ridge
and the chimney, George
Residence.

7/8 2012

Texas Architect 25

winter, there were usually about 50 apprentices
working and living in the Taliesin Fellowship.
David’s duties included construction, farming,
dairy production, drafting, choir, and orchestra.
He was assigned to serve meals to the Wright
family — which at times included the daughter,
Iovanna — and was also their driver. David
George has only positive things to say about his
time at Taliesin, but he needed to leave after a
year to finish his architectural degree.
After Taliesin, David spent time as a job
superintendent on projects for architect and
professor James Fitzgibbon before resuming
his studies in Oklahoma. He then followed his

Wright, but that would be a mistake. As a
college student he was mostly interested in art
and geometry. This might explain the love of
measurement represented by building modules. Timeless construction impressed him as
an artillery officer during WWII since he was
often billeted in ancient sheds and barns in the
German and French countryside. He admires
both the rustic details developed by Dilbeck
and the clear structure expounded by Mies van
der Rohe. His career is an example of how a set

David George has standing to
mention Frank Lloyd Wright
from time to time because he was
an apprentice to Mr. Wright at
Taliesin in 1947.
professors, Fitzgibbon and Dean Henry Kamphoefner, to North Carolina State, completing
his degree there in 1949. During his time at NC
State, David was exposed to Buckminster Fuller
and the architectural ideas of Mies van der
Rohe.
in the Dallas/Fort Worth area soon
after graduation, he spent two years in the office
of Harwell Hamilton Harris and about eight
months with Charles Steven Dilbeck. David
liked working with both men but he eventually hired on with Hood Chatham and in 1950
designed the Brants Painting Studio in Fort
Worth. This project, belatedly honored with an
AIA 25-year award, is a prefabricated Miesien
structure accessed from a small ridge-top by
a delicate steel bridge. The modular system,
refined details, and open glassy corner presage
the themes that David would return to many
times in his career.
David George was called to military service
in the Korean War and then returned to Dallas/
Fort Worth to resume his practice and to become
registered as an architect. He was occasionally
consulted by and collaborated with the Taliesin
Studio on projects in Texas – most notably the
John A. Gillin Residence and the Kalita Humphreys Theater. David eventually became an
AIA Fellow and a Fellow of Taliesin.
It’s tempting to trace all of David’s architectural influences back to Frank Lloyd
Locating

Top to bottom The

Lake
Cottage interior illustrates
the “folded plate” technique at the roof structure.
David George describes
Wright’s editing method.
An example of Wright’s
editing of an otherwise
completed manuscript.

7/8 2012

Texas Architect 27

Left to right Eschew-

ing the computer, David
George uses still-essential
design tools. Sketching a
current residential project
and holding a truncated
pyramid model fragment.

of principles can be drawn from certain sources
and be re-expressed in many different ways.
Though David didn’t
have the aptitude
to follow his chemist/druggist father’s
profession, an entrepreneurial spirit may
have established itself
in him as an independent streak. He is
quite modest but did hint that a healthy ego is
important for architects: “As an architect, you
need to be sure of yourself.”

The building shapes for this house are derived from
geometries David finds in nature – rock formations
and rock fracture patterns. The superstructure in
this case is conceived as a three-sided pyramid with
the bottom corners truncated for access.

David spends little time
drawing but much time thinking about his ongoing projects. When he does draw it’s on a lapboard and using 11x17 sheets of grid paper. He is
using 60-degree grid paper for a current residential design and the resultant forms are reminiscent of late Wrightian schemes. The building
shapes for this house are derived from geometries
David finds in nature – rock formations and rock
fracture patterns. The superstructure in this case
is conceived as a three-sided pyramid with the
bottom corners truncated for access. Once the
oblique grid is established and the basic folded
pyramid forms are in place, he plans to open the
peaked shapes with skylights.
David George also thinks about larger
building patterns. He’s very interested in Texas
Prairie developments – things happening within
At this stage in his life

28 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

and at the edge of the Cross Timbers region that
he loves. He’s seen, over his lifetime, how oil
and gas exploration have consistently brought
prosperity to Oklahoma and North Texas and
feels that families with resource-rich property
should establish multi-generational home clusters
on family land. David sees these self-sustaining
developments, centered on family groups and
remote from urban centers, as the future for this
region. His vision is for small groups, especially
families, to live together outside of typical urban
and suburban developments – independent
and retaining all rights to their land and their
resources.
There’s much to be learned from the work of
David Webster George beyond the modules and
the edge reveals. Further examination might
include the description of the bazaar-like Olla
Podrida profiled in the November 1974 issue of
Southern Living, or David’s “$25,000” house in the
November 1964 issue of House Beautiful. More
recent examples of his work can be found in the
archives of D Magazine. A careful study of these
documents will likely reveal more themes and
strategies. But the best lessons, perhaps, are in
the buildings themselves, and how they reveal a
mind at work in the cross currents of nature and
building.
Joe Self, AIA, is the principal of FIRM817 in Fort Worth.

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he Dallas neighborhood of Preston Hollow is home to a number of
well-designed and often very significant houses by nationally recognized architects — Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Meier, Steven Holl, and
Edward Larrabee Barnes, to name a few. The neighborhood also has a
considerable representation of local talent (including Max Levy, Russell
Buchanan, Mark Wellen, Svend Fruit, Frank Welch, and Howard Meyer).
The larger, rambling lots — often skirted by creeks and sheltered by
mature trees — seem appropriate for truly purposeful architectural design,
perhaps more so than the sites in more typical suburban neighborhoods
close by. The majority of Preston Hollow residents still opt for large, more
traditional houses. But with the varied topography, even they seem to fit in
better on the larger lots. It is a pattern for houses in this area to overwhelm
their sites, dominating them and distracting attention from the beautiful
trees and landforms (and the neighbors) with a sense of monumentality.
But not all of them. The Hodge Orr House, designed by David Webster
George, FAIA, in collaboration with Jim Wheeler, AIA, is a reminder that
a well-planned house can be both gracious and architecturally arresting,
while still embodying principles of restraint and blending into the features
of the site. These two architects — in tandem with a totally involved client
who valued and insisted on simplicity — were able to follow their ideas to
completion, fully integrating with the site. The house is so carefully tucked
in under the canopy of existing oak trees, you can drive by and almost miss
the house, unless you are looking for it. But close observation demands
your consideration and rewards it with thoughtful lessons on how to make
a beautiful thing using a restrained basket of tricks. It begins with the great

7/8 2012

Texas Architect 31

care taken with the way the trees are incorporated into the design. Indeed.
the entry sequence makes this priority clear as you walk past a portion of
the roof that has been specially notched to allow a set of limbs to pass over
it. Such care is witnessed again and again, but the myriad ways it is manifested is a delight to understand.
Frank Lloyd Wright, and his
concern for siting a building to take advantage of its natural characteristics,
the house is set among 20 native live oak trees. The whole organization of
the house, as well as the roof heights and placement of walks, drives, and
decks, is adjusted to accommodate them, particularly the spread of the
canopies. George is 89 years old, and proudly both an AIA and a Taliesin
Fellow. The Orrs found him after seeing another of his houses and making
an effort to track him down. Initially the project was an addition to an
existing house, but subsequently the commission developed into an all-new
structure, resulting in the original house being demolished. What remained
was an incredible oak grove to plan a house in, an existing pool to focus the
court around, and a lush bamboo thicket at the rear of the site.
George describes the house as very Texan, in fact, a “Texas Prairie
Style” house, perhaps as a deferential reference to his time at Taliesin as
an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright. If so, the reference is opaque at best.
Other than its careful siting and the use of a repetitive grid as an organizing device, the house seems to be very much an original design, combining
Mediterranean planning strategies with an Asian sensibility and scale.
The result is a house in repose, designed to take advantage of its site and
to make those inhabiting it more appreciative of its unique characteristics.
Further, it is an exceptionally well-detailed and well-made house, sure in
its execution as well as its design, not always characteristic of Frank Lloyd
Indicative of David Webster George’s mentor,

32 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

Wright’s later work. This is a house in which fit-and-finish is integral to the
way the spaces are expressed and formed. It draws a considerable amount
of its power from the sheer excellence of the construction. To be inside it is
to experience a primer in the phrase “zero detailing.”
After demolition of the original house, the existing pool in what had formerly been the back yard was redesigned to be the one man-made feature
of the center court. This distinctive element — in the shape of a quatrefoil
— became the focal point of most major rooms in the house. The landscaped court is edged by rhythmic modules of bay windows set out from
the main wall with its uniform cornice height. On the interior these bay
windows front a continuous circulation space, which the owners refer to as

After demolition of the original house, the existing
pool in what had formerly been the back yard was
redesigned to be the one man-made feature of the
center court.
a cloister, although inside it functions as a continuous linear living space.
The existing pool is at the center of the composition, in effect becoming the
intersection of the cross axis around which the plan is organized. Here the
circulation is actually inhabitable, in counterpoint to the Mediterranean
model, where it reads as exterior space.
The façades have a combination of flat and gable roofs that are used to
articulate various spaces, and to accommodate the spreading limbs of the
trees. The house is organized using a 10’-8’’ supergrid, which subdivides
in a 32’’ grid for both the plan and section dimensions. This grid, in turn,
subdivides to 8’’ modules or expands up to a 48’’ module — conforming

Previous spread The

grand suite flows into the
dining room.
This spread, clockwise from left Existing

quatrefoil-shaped pool as
organizing element for
the U-shaped plan. The
gable-roofed living room
is open to views on three
sides. The roof fits tightly
under the canopy of the
existing oak trees.

dimensionally with most standard building materials. Manifestation of the
grid is evident in the large bay windows (the same 8’-0’’ x 8’-0’’window
module is used throughout the house), but it is not tyrannical or even immediately visible. The grid can only be sensed by the overall order and carefully developed proportions of the house, a sign of a sure hand and a great
deal of experience in the use of a repetitive module for planning.
The exterior is finished in uniform, smooth plaster, with no joints or
reveals. The interior wall color matches it, too, creating an intentionally
monolithic character that makes the house look like “pottery” to David
George and that serves as an excellent foil for the trees and the shadows
they cast in the changing light. The large windows are of bronze aluminum, mimicking the verticality and bark of the trees. When an interior
space is celebrated, a standing-seam gable roof is expressed on the façade.
Rainwater on the site is handled in an innovative and narrative manner,
consistent with the careful siting of the house. In the areas where flat roofs
occur, scuppers, designed as a recurring part of the façade, shed water. The
gables, located over rooms where the spatial emphasis requires verticality,
spring from the cornice line and are clad in standing-seam metal. There
are no gutters or downspouts; rainwater simply sheets off the roofs and into
the surrounding landscape. The house is set in what the architects call a
dry creek bed, a stone-lined trough that borders the house and accommodates drainage. Access to the various doors located around the perimeter of
the house is by pipe decks or bridges that span the creek bed and reinforce
the water metaphor.
All of this planning organization is secondary to the role of ample natural
light within the spaces. Light — its channeling, filtering, and the way it is
introduced to the various spaces — is what you sense most inside the house.
Skylights, roof lights and monitors are present in virtually every major

space, but they are not just holes in the roof or mere windows. Here they are
shielded and screened by a wide variety of sensitive millwork grids that soften
the light and provide visual play. The effect is one of dappled light falling
through tree branches and leaves, a fitting metaphor for a house literally
inserted beneath a broad canopy of trees. The skylights provide a reminder
of the trees, which are visible through them, but just barely. George and
Wheeler are careful not to allow harsh direct light to penetrate the house, so
views out are generally seen through a screen. These grids in the skylights
and gable windows filter and screen the light. The architects refer to these
screens as “sombras,” which translates as “shadows,” an apt descriptive term.
Wheeler, who worked with O’Neil Ford in his early career, learned about
sombras in Ford’s office. In every case, the interior and exterior grilles are
demountable to take full advantage of the seasonal foliage. This introduction
of wood near the ceilings also adds a touch of hand-crafted warmth in an
unexpected place. Equally interesting is how these skylights are used thematically to introduce light into the space even when it’s dark outside. The large
skylight over the dining room table is fitted with spot lights that can be aimed
downward, extending the theme of lighting from above. With all of the glazing and the need for visual privacy above the windows, shades that can be
lowered when necessary are concealed in the header.
The house is rich with wonderful (and useful) details. A favorite (in
a house that is full of them) is the use of a single pane of frameless glass
projecting over the exterior entry doors granting access via the decks to the
exterior and providing cover when entering and exiting. This gesture has
the effect of sheltering the door from rain, without spoiling the roof and
cornice line, and the view of the trees.
George and Wheeler were aided in the design of the interior details and
millwork by Dallas architect Jessica Stewart Lendvay, who with the owners
developed the extensive, but restrained, millwork and finishes. Interiors

34 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

A house this open and flowing seems never to
suggest the need to close off portions from one
another, but George and Wheeler have built this
contingency into the design.
are minimalist, but carefully considered. In addition to the smooth interior
walls, they include white oak flooring and white oak cabinets. The same
wood and stone are used throughout, extending even to bathrooms and
closets. The interior paint colors, tiles, limestone, and stone for countertops
were selected by the owner in collaboration with interior designer Beth
Steinbauer.
the minimalist detailing, no trim is used in the house; walls
go to the floor in unbroken lines uninterrupted by base. Wood flooring is
8’’-wide oak planks, the same materials used throughout for all the millwork.
Limestone is introduced at the fireplace hearths (flush with the adjacent
wood floors) and as a band of paving around the pool. The only obvious
decorative touch appears as wood grilles that form a cornice in some interior
spaces and conceal return air. An extension of these wood grilles used in a
different way is seen in the form of sliding screens that can divide and close
off some areas of the house. Based on their similarity to Japanese latticework,
Wheeler calls these “renji mado.” A house this open and flowing seems never
to suggest the need to close off portions from one another, but George and
Wheeler have built this contingency into the design. The kitchen can be
screened completely from the surrounding spaces, although this capability
would normally seem unnecessary, given the kitchen’s careful planning and
execution. The kitchen itself is generous, open, and integral to the house.
In keeping with

Simple base cabinets in a linear configuration define the space. Pantries and
closets provide ample storage, dispensing with the need for upper cabinets
that would disrupt the visual flow of space.
The interior cloister adjacent to the kitchen is usable space that George
calls the sidewalk café. This continuous space surrounds the landscaped
court and has the effect of providing every room with an associated living
space. Most rooms have windows or views on two walls, into the central
court and out to the perimeter of the site, which is lovingly landscaped and
full of distinctive gardens and landscape features. The owners are avid
readers and the display of books is a significant component of the design.
As the cloister follows the perimeter of the courtyard, it fittingly becomes
their library and study. Ultimately it becomes the master suite itself, where
the view is across the court and the pool at its center.
Much is made of the modernist trope of bringing the outside inside,
of blurring the line between the two realms, and creating views in and
out that are informed by the architecture. Though often stated as a goal
of a design, in practice it is more of a cliché than a reality. But this house
could be a case study for the idea — a tree house on one level where basic
circulation feels like a walk in the woods. In part due to the ample fenestration and the presence of the trees, you feel like you are outdoors, that
the interior and the exterior are seamlessly joined. Overall this is a quiet
house, expansive and filled with light filtered through leaves. Its orderly,
almost luxuriously scaled spaces are inviting and seductive, suggestive
of sheltered places for curling up with a book or taking a nap. This is a
house in repose. To be in it is to experience a sense of calm and order,
and the gift of well-being.

Clockwise from top left The

dining room has a
skylight with an inserted wood trellis that defines the table
location. Sliding screens of white oak provide privacy and
visual warmth. The long Pullman kitchen can be closed
off by screens but, even left open, is a beautiful component
of the space.

Michael Malone, AIA, is the founding principal of Michael Malone Architects in Dallas.

It’s rare these days to see editorial coverage of
healthcare without the companion word, “wellness” — which is both a goal of healthcare and,
in the context of building types, a handy synonym
for “fitness.”
In the latter category, we cover two facilities that are at opposite ends of the spectrum in
terms of their locations and constituencies. The
Tellepsen Family YMCA in the hardscape of
downtown Houston states flatly that “Everyone
is welcome.” Whereas the Northwood Club is an
exclusive members-only haven amongst trees and
rolling meadows in north Dallas. What ties the
two projects together? They are both exemplary
in satisfying client aspirations.
Bucolic vs. urban also applies to the Chickasaw Nation Medical Center in the plains of
Oklahoma and the CHRISTUS Moran Health
Center in midtown Houston. As different as their
settings are, both buildings succeed in making a
high-impact connection with their community.

he wind blows strong across the low, rolling plains of central Oklahoma. Standing quietly and listening to the wind in this place — where
a razor-sharp horizon seams together land and sky — one can sense the spirits of Native Americans who for generations lived and thrived on the land.
These were a people who found, after torturous travels westward during the
Trail of Tears, a place that in its sheer vastness accepted them and offered the
opportunity to rebuild their way of life. And so it was, and so it has been for
the Chickasaw Nation in this place of raw and expansive beauty.
Today, outside the small Oklahoma town of Ada stands a tight compound of buildings that, at a distance, shimmers like a mirage of some
modern native pueblo within the verdant panorama. Built of modern
materials by modern people — yet with forms, colors, and patterns that
embody the coded meanings of an ancient culture — the Chickasaw
Nation Medical Center has given the people of the local Chickasaw tribe
a place for healing, communing, and celebrating their culture. As lead

designer, architect Lawrence W. Speck, FAIA, of Page Southerland Page in
Austin, capitalized on the tribe’s rich history of crafts, textiles, and spiritual
connection to nature, paying homage to those foundational elements both
subtly and overtly in the design of the building.
The hospital is located in a rural setting, sited within the 230-acre property between a long, low hill on one side and a dense backdrop of trees lining
a creek bed on the other. Among the many striking features that distinguish
this hospital from others is the palpable connection to the outdoors. Transparent multi-level corridors connect the various wings, framing views of
nature through the compound. Most interior circulation, for that matter, is
placed on exterior walls to maximize views outward and natural light within.
From within, virtually every major space — be it a patient room, office, or
public area — presents the sky and trees and green vistas in full panoramic
view. Patient rooms are designed with foremost consideration of the person
lying horizontal for long periods of time. Side walls are angled to direct the

7/8 2012

Texas Architect 39

patient’s view to large, carefully placed windows both low and high on the
12-foot-tall exterior walls, giving expansive views to landscape across the
room and focused apertures to the sky. In the staff and public spaces as well,
several large light wells penetrate the main volumes to provide abundant
light and outward views. “Sightings of wild turkey, deer, the annual monarch
butterfly migrations, and other wildlife are common,” says Dr. Judy Goforth
Parker, Chief Administrator of the CNMC.
All this attention to sunlight and nature views is more than mere aesthetic affect. It is a response to a deeply held Native American belief that
nature requires our abiding respect and appreciation, and in return gives
potent healing and nurturing. Dr. Parker grounds this belief in scientific

Patient rooms are designed with foremost
consideration of the person lying horizontal for long
periods of time.
fact: “Clinical studies have proven that when patients have more views to
nature, their need for medications decreases.” An extension of this belief
system is the contention that we humans should take from nature only what
we need and no more. In this philosophical context, energy efficiency and
conservation of non-renewable natural resources became an even more
rigid programmatic requirement than usual. Thus, the integration of
controlled daylight provides natural — and free — warmth in the winter,
resulting in a lower requirement for forced heat, and also conserves energy
use by significantly reducing the need for electrified lighting.
of the CNMC is also an improvement over typical
hospital design. The core of the complex is a lively and light-filled public
space referred to as the Town Center. The main entry guides visitors
immediately into the Town Center, from where one decides with very clear
visual aids whether to go to the outpatient clinic, inpatient functions (hospital, surgery, or emergency room), cafeteria, or the Healing Garden beyond.
“Hospitals are typically confusing and impersonal places for visitors and
patients alike. This hospital is very clear and very beautiful,” observes
Dr. Parker. “If you walk straight through the Town Center to the Healing Garden beyond, you will find staff, patients, and visitors intermixing,
eating, and enjoying nature. It is really a wonderful place.”
Just as the aptly named Town Center serves as the working core of the
hospital, so has it also come to provide for the community — somewhat serendipitously — essentially the same function. It and the adjacent cafeteria/
dining room are almost daily gathering places where many non-patient
Ada residents eat, socialize, and gather information about health resources.
The Town Center has also become an increasingly popular venue for small
local events. The CNMC is, in effect, a compelling affirmation of the
Chickasaw Nation’s commitment to universal healthcare and the wellbeing of its people.
The CNMC provides yet another element central to Native American
culture pertaining to the care of the ill: accommodating large gatherings
of family and friends who may stay for days on end to lend support to their
loved ones. For Native Americans, caring for the ill is a community function. Rather than the two or three family caregivers ordinarily present,
there may be a dozen or more extended family members and friends who
might travel many miles to provide comfort and assistance. Patient rooms
include larger seating areas and fold-out beds to accommodate long visitor
The functional layout

stays; gracious community rooms are provided on all patient floors; and
multiple large public spaces and the Town Center all provide for the larger
community’s participation in the care of loved ones. Even in the site devel-

This facility is a joyous, riotous dance of large
colored blocks, glass, and glittering metallic siding,
stepping in complex rhythms.
opment, special trails snaking through the lush surrounding landscape, as
well as picnic areas and long-term parking accommodations, are aimed at
facilitating and encouraging caregivers to spend long periods of time at the
medical center.
the CNMC is not the austere minimalist shell so
often favored among the architectural cognizanti. This facility is a joyous,
riotous dance of large colored blocks, glass, and glittering metallic siding,
stepping in complex rhythms. Each surface is an intricate bejeweled tapestry
of multihued patterns and geometries. Lead designer Speck referenced and
abstracted various indigenous tribal textiles and jewelry still worn by Chickasaws today. Specific tribal basket weave designs inspired the fenestration and
surface treatments of the exterior walls, as well as cabinet details and interior
tile designs. A very particular Chickasaw beaded necklace was the inspiration for the designs of terrazzo floors and concourse ceilings. Traditional
Chickasaw colors holding spiritual and cultural significance provided the
springboard for color selections throughout the facility. As a whole, the building is imbued with ancient tribal symbolism and meaning.
Materials were chosen to reflect their local and state cultural significance as well. Native Oklahoma fieldstone from five different areas is used
in public spaces both inside and outside, contributing a rich palette of tan,
brown, red, ochre, and gray. Weathered copper used sparingly in key locations reflects the ongoing ravages of time and the harsh prairie climate. Private spaces are coded on the exterior with the less monumental materials
of aluminum shingled siding and wood, in resonance with the prosaic rural
structures of the Midwest.
Page Southerland Page clearly set aside many of the typical paradigms
of hospital design protocol and instead invested their creative passion and
humanity in creating the Chickasaw Nation Medical Center. Designer Speck
gives special credit to the firm’s lead healthcare planner on the project, Kregg
Ellsass, who readily embraced all of the divergence from norms represented
by the Town Center, special daylighting provisions, and so forth. As Speck
puts it, “Kregg kept all of the machine-like precision of a modern healthcare
facility intact while we tried to humanize and particularize the place.”
The result of their work is a community healthcare center inextricably
bound to its site, region, and local culture. Far transcending a generic
healthcare facility, this is a very specific response to very particular conditions. It eschews the common practice of assembling anonymous machines
for healthcare in favor of place-making that supports the technology and
sophistication of modern medical practice — all in a built environment
that boosts the local community and exudes humanity and cultural meaning. One can’t help but ponder how the current state of health in this nation
might be improved if more healthcare facilities had such ennobled qualities
as this one, nestled in the low hills of a small Oklahoma community.
Regarding its appearance,

ne in every three persons in the Houston area lacks health insurance.
The ever-increasing demand for low-cost care in the region consistently exceeds available community resources. Primary healthcare for the
uninsured is grossly inadequate, and specialty care is almost nonexistent.
When it is available, it is often through referrals to unfamiliar or remote
sources, and at increased cost to those needing the care.
With the 2008 sale of the St. Joseph Hospital campus in downtown
Houston, the founding forces behind San Jose Clinic — the oldest operating free clinic in the nation — were fervent in their mandate that this
critical line of delivery not pass quietly into the night. The CHRISTUS
Foundation for Health Care worked with the San Jose Clinic to find a new
home, one worthy of the mission and outreach of the 90-year-old care
institution and Houston legacy.
The story of the Moran Family Health Center is larger than just the
account of relocating the San Jose Clinic from its outdated and undersized
50-year-old facility in downtown. Its true telling reveals the comprehensive
delivery of a range of services that are interconnected and focused on the
overall well-being and soundness of families. As the clinic CFO and COO
Lee Ann Kroon frames it, “We believe health and wellness include social
and life skills, and that our services are just part of a more holistic approach
to the needs of the uninsured community.”
As the search for a new home began, a dialogue among like-minded
organizations led to a synergy of social, medical, and life skill-centric
groups. Complementing the anchoring core of San Jose Clinic, the Moran
Family Health Center also includes offices for the CHRISTUS Foundation for Healthcare, owner of the complex; the Houston Read Commission, offering GED and ESL classes; and a centralized dispatch point for
CHRISTUS’ Healthy Living Mobile Clinic vehicles. In addition, offices
for a satellite presence for Catholic Charities provide social services around
food, shelter, utilities and other core necessities. Clients of the center can
receive marriage counseling, job placement advice, and annual wellness check-ups under one roof. Kroon further observes that the greatest
service offered to their clients is not equitable health care as enjoyed by

7/8 2012

Texas Architect 45

the insured. Rather, it is that all services are provided with “a genuine
conveyance of respect and dignity” for individuals and their particular
life circumstances. This attitude, more than the convergence of services,
defines the essence of the Moran Family Health Center.
for such an ambitious new center required special
care and consideration. In serving its constituency, the clinic sees patients
from all over the city and is regionally based more than neighborhooddriven. Surveys of patients confirmed that most arrived via some form of
public transportation — either bus line or light rail. With that finding,
proximity to public transportation rose as a priority. Consideration was
also given to the proximity of symbiotic organizations such as SEARCH
Homeless Services and the Catholic Charities. Based on these criteria,
Houston midtown quickly defined itself as the logical future project location. Concurrently, the process led to Morris Architects, publishers of
recent urban evaluations and authors of the widely circulated “Midtown
Livable Center Study.”
During a recent visit to their offices, project principal and Director of
Design Doug Oliver and contributing designer Michael Hostler shared
some of the project constraints that energized the design process and drove
it to its unique resolution. Oliver explored the inherent tension between
the intended use of the center by appointment-holding visitors and the
potential walk-in activity by those who would quickly come to know of its
coveted resources. “Knowing the benefits to the community at large, we
had to design a building that was about urban design destination, rather
than casual transient habitation,” he says. The center needed to be accessible to intended visitors without encouraging occupation or loitering by the
surrounding foot traffic. Morris’ design team prioritized the creation of a
non-institutional building that, as an expression of careful material selection, was made less formidable, thereby passively encouraging use. Oliver
emphasizes that the highest realization of the success of the built project
Selecting the location

46 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

happens when the “architecture overcomes the threshold moment, depressurizes the anxiety of the visitor, and invites entry.”
The building is sited at the intersection of the midtown street,
McGowan, and Fannin, which references the near proximity and extended
connection to the Texas Medical Center. Morris chose to memorialize the
duality of this building, belonging to both worlds, by placing the entry and
vertical circulation tower of the three-story facility prominently on that
corner. Expression of the stair through the glass is intended to capture and
hold the importance of the corner. The design team nimbly navigates the

During the approach to the main desk, the entire
lobby space is filled with the quiet but anchoring
presence of soft borrowed light from the chapel.
perceived tension between this iconic statement and the very real need to
invite people into the complex. Rather than offering an over-formalized
park, the architects conceived of the entry court as a deliberately smaller
and more intimate space. It is a precise transition from the urban street
scale down to a manicured court that ushers the visitor comfortably
through the front portal and into the receiving lobby.
Once inside, the purposeful staging of familiar and symbolic elements
in new juxtapositions continues to invite the visitor to engage the space
and examine its subtext. During the approach to the main desk, the
entire lobby space is filled with the quiet but anchoring presence of soft
borrowed light from the chapel, which serves as backdrop to the process
of orientation. Morris has unabashedly recognized that this center at its
foundation is the coming together of several faith-based organizations. In
testament to this origin, Oliver says “the chapel is embraced by the arms
of the services (perpendicular service wings) forming the heart of the
building.” The design team pays due respect to the framework in which

Previous spreadÂ Entry

and vertical circulation tower

claim the corner.
This spread, clockwise from facing pageÂ Clini-

cal, communal, and spiritual aspects of use all happen
simultaneously. The chapel is positioned at the center
of the clinic, both physically, and symbolically. Iconic
religious artifacts from the Sisters of Charity find new
life. The clinic embraces public transit and the pulse of its
urban context.

the services are offered without being overt or obtuse in their architectural manifestations.
Morris avoids creating use-specific spaces by infusing inherent flexibility into the careful detailing of transitions and soft edges. A large multipurpose room immediately adjacent to the chapel can be doubled in size
by activating a series of transparent folding panels. It is hoped that this
area may support other wellness initiatives such as CPR classes, birthing
instructional sessions, fitness class or yoga from the nearby YMCA, or
even cooking and nutritional instruction in the adjacent catering kitchen.
Letting something smaller become more impactful through its multi-use
capabilities is in some sense a study of the complex itself. The layering of
use and meaning on the flexing spaces will allow the center to adapt with
the changing needs and service interventions over the next 20 to 30 years
and secure the center’s relevance within the community.
day-to-day is Rueben Molina, Director
of Medical Services, who not only coordinates the core staff of San Jose
nurses, medical technicians and clinical administrators, but also oversees
and orchestrates the medical volunteers. The clinic is dependent on some
472 patient care volunteers, of whom 60 are licensed medical doctors, to
realize its delivery of services. Doctors, nurses, physician assistants, radiologists, dental hygienists, and optometrists make up the weekly rotations
Marshalling the center’s forces

It is more than just a place to receive eyeglasses, or
dental check-ups. It transcends in-house diagnostic
digital imaging, laboratory testing, and prescription
refills. For the uninsured, it is truly a Health Home.

Top to bottom The

historic colonial vocabulary
of the original clinic has
morphed into an image of
front-line modern service
delivery. Interior wayfinding is supported by use of
pod color blocking on accent walls. Patients receive
subsidized prescriptions
and language-specific consultations at the in-house
pharmacy.

of specialists who lend time and expertise to the program. In 2011, some
21,873 service hours were recorded with an in-kind value of over $706,000.
Along with other processing and material donations from some of the
major medical institutions in Houston, approximately half of the clinic’s
annual operating budget of $7 million dollars is met with in-kind services
from the community — a telling reflection of the center’s local acceptance.
In its current configuration, the Moran Center supports office spaces
for administration and counseling, as well as educational and conferencing
uses. It is more than just a place to receive eyeglasses, or dental check-ups.
It transcends in-house diagnostic digital imaging, laboratory testing, and
prescription refills. And it is more than just a medical clinic or the sum of
all these parts of service. For the uninsured, it is truly a Health Home. And
as such, it places value on its family members and looks to support all of the
contributing aspects of their physical and emotional wellness.
When asked what singular difference this building makes in the lives
of patients, Molina focuses on the improved experience of a more calming
and more abundant space. “We don’t have to rush the patients, or herd
them on so the next patient can fill their seat,” he says. “It allows the doctors more time in the exam room giving care directly. For patients, it means
more privacy, and more dignity.”
While the San Jose Clinic has always been a place of hope within the
community of Houston’s un-insured, the Moran Family Health Center is
more than just another clinic. With this new building and its architectural
translation of mission, it is a beacon of respect and dignity.
Gin Kappler-Peeler, AIA, RID, LEED AP, practices with Perkins + Will - Houston.

n 2008 the YMCA of Greater Houston announced the imminent
replacement of Kenneth Franzheim’s Italian Renaissance-inspired
ten-story edifice that had provided classrooms, exercise facilities, and
132 single-room residential units since 1941. Aspiring to move in a more
“family-friendly” direction, the organization stated the primary goal of the
new 115,000-sf facility would be to assume a stronger community presence
in downtown Houston.
At the south end of downtown, the Tellepsen Family YMCA — sited
strategically for maximum visibility and natural light — opens to the street
with a two-story porch and lobby topped by three floors of activities, all
with views to-and-fro downtown. Named in honor of the Tellepsen Family’s
long history of service, construction, and philanthropy to both Houston
and the YMCA, the new building sits less than two blocks away from the
previous location.
The LEED Gold-Certified facility, designed by Kirksey Architects, was
a project ten years in discussion. Having designed four earlier one-story
suburban Y facilities, Kirksey’s design team participated in a two-firm
invited competition to secure the contract for this five-level urban Y project. Organizational clarity, coupled with sustainable materials and strate-

7/8 2012

Texas Architect 51

gies, give shape to an architectural experience that defines the YMCA’s
mission of “efforts to support youth development, healthy living, and social
responsibility.”
Welcoming the community, hosting city-sponsored events, facilitating
encounters, and giving a generous space back to the city, a public threshold
— referred to by the architects as the “front porch” — was placed at the
entrance. Beyond, a two-story glass wall reveals interior elements that continue the entry sequence: lobby, reception desk, healthy café, and “Child
Watch” (a big plus for family use and appeal) — all visible from the street
beyond the landscaped outdoor seating area.
The previous 1941 building,

by all accounts a dark maze, was decidedly “old
school,” both socially and architecturally. Big, important (and high-fun)
spaces, like swimming and basketball, were hidden in the basement with
zero natural light. Was exercising a more private matter at that time?
Perhaps. Keeping fit today is surely a communal, and even virtuous,
activity. Whose long hours of disciplined training need go unnoticed? And
what better advertisement for the Y’s services than a civic viewport? Supporting the central design theme of the building, “visible activity,” a 40’
fritted-glass curtain wall spans the upper three floors of the north façade.
Showcasing a full-height YMCA super graphic, it serves as a window to the
community, blurring the line between inside and out.

52 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

A public threshold — referred to by the architects
as the ”front porch” — was placed at the entrance.
Moving inside, interior spaces open up vertically and diagonally. Events
arranged around a central grand staircase encourage cross-training.
Bottom to top, activities are stacked from more-public to more-private
and from ground-floor ‘free’ to upper-level ‘members-only.’ West-to-east,
light-loving and noisier zones such as basketball and racquetball sit west of
the stair, while more individual-oriented, body-personal areas like the pool,
aerobic/cardio classes, weight and machine-based equipment, sit east of it.
A hanging running track at a partial fifth level ties the two types together
above the main workout space.
Exterior material choices echo the organization and layering within.
Upper-level activity spaces, completely glassed on the north, have opaque
metal walls on the east and west to eliminate the harshest heat gains.
Balancing against possible glare from the north-side glass, a white TPO
roof over the central circulation zone on the south edge acts as a giant
light shelf and indirectly lights the back of the gymnasium spaces. On
the east end of the ground floor, the pool — dropped 24” below grade
for a more-reserved street view for swimmers — is wrapped in bands of
stacked limestone. A huge bay window, doubling as an interior seating
ledge, projects over the sidewalk and bounces light onto the water via

This page, left and below Light

is controlled in
the second-level basketball
court via fritted glass and
incorporated super graphics. Historical items, such
as the neon Y from the roof
of the 1941 Franzheim
building, were repurposed as artifacts/art. A
two-story lobby creates a
visually prominent public
access.

Opening page The

north-facing glass
provides outward views to
downtown while visually
connecting the community
with the buzz of activity
within.
Facing page A recessed
‘front porch’ accommodates
Y and city-wide activities
by extending a welcome
zone at the street level.
This page, top left Natural light is bounced off
the white ceiling scrims
above the pool space to
limit use of daytime artificial lighting.

bright,
orange glass-clad stairwell
sits at the heart of the
vertical circulation.
This page, clockwise
from top left Massing

as viewed from northeast.
A stone-faced projecting
window box at street level
creates a limited view into
the pool room. The cornerstone displays the John
17:21 source for the Y’s
multiple-meaning mission
statement: “That they all
may be one.” Remnants
from the 1941 Y are on
display.

strategically-placed white scrim panels. Locker rooms (two floors connected by internal stairs), cleverly serving both the first-floor pool and
upper workout areas, are day-lit by a continuous clerestory band that
limits views into changing areas. As a result, the metal-and-glass activity floors seem to float as a separate element above the stone base and
recessed front porch.
Interior surfaces, durable and unadorned, economically express a leanand-mean aesthetic appropriate to a health facility. Polished concrete and
maple floors and tile or white epoxy-coated masonry walls were selected
to stand up to the abuse of an all-age constituency. Glass and stainless steel
partitions and railings increase interior transparency and light while, above,
exposed galvanized ductwork and industrial lighting poke through a silver
expanded-metal “ceiling” that helps visually expand available space. The
implausibly serene interior, quite a feat for a high-activity building, comes
partly from a fairly monochromatic palette derived from revealing the true
qualities of the materials used. Strong, applied color is used only for wayfinding clues: lighted, high-energy orange glass welcome desks and the big
orange stair.
certification underscores the message that
“Spirit, Mind, and Body” need to work together to produce a fully healthy
person. The notion that a good exterior and a good interior exist only in
the presence of each other is true for both people and buildings. Extensive
energy modeling identified the most effective energy strategies and helped
verify LEED compliance. Almost $200,000 in energy-saving investments
provided a 28.7% annual savings in energy expenditures, a three-year payback. Examples include smart lighting: skylighting and daylighting controls
work in tandem with high-efficiency lighting fixtures; smart water: lowflow plumbing fixtures and an ozone laundry system; smart mechanical:
over-scaled fans move air to help meet comfort levels with less energy; and
smart waste: a construction waste recycling program (90% diverted from
The decision to invest in LEED

Members praise the new brand, new attitude,
and new atmosphere in the new building, all of
which support the YMCA’s age-old focus on the
total person.
landfills) and an ongoing recycling program that teaches good practices to
its users.
from the old Louisiana Street location, membership at the downtown Houston Y was just under 4,000. Today, after 19
months of operation, the membership has grown to over 5,000, with the
ability to accommodate up to 10,000 memberships. It appears that good
design does facilitate good business. Members praise the new brand, new
attitude, and new atmosphere in the new building, all of which support the
YMCA’s age-old focus on the total person.
In this post-downturned economy, creating more with less (fewer
construction dollars, lower energy consumption, and reduced operating
expenses) is the challenge for our profession. Successful architects competing for available projects have marketed this message and have educated
our clients to, rightfully, expect more from all of us. Kirksey’s new downtown Y delivers a design and execution that proves doing something smart
for each sector — the spirit, mind, and body, or in this case, the client, the
user, and the community context — is the same as doing it for ALL.
In 2010, just prior to the move

n a bucolic natural setting of rolling hills, the Northwood Club was
established in 1946 by residents of north Dallas to provide golf and recreational activities for young families in an expanding city. The latest addition to the club — the fitness center, completed in 2010 —houses strength
training, aerobics, a yoga studio, and child care services, along with food
service for pool users and golfers.
As at many private clubs in recent years, Northwood’s fitness center
answers the demands of a changing demographic, catering to the interests
of those private club members desiring more than a round of golf. Offering these additional services extends the club’s family-friendly posture
to include activities for spouses and children. The fitness center creates a
compelling opportunity for new members to join by offering a transitional
membership as a stepping stone toward future full-service membership
including golf and tennis.
Good Fulton & Farrell Architects was commissioned to design the new
center as a complement to the original clubhouse. In light of the opportunity afforded by the lush acreage in the heart of north Dallas, the design
team of Scott Sower, AIA, and design principal David Farrell, AIA,
responded by carving the fitness center into the hillside on a little-used
corner of the 50-year-old property. Assuming the appearance of a one-

7/8 2012

Texas Architect 57

Previous spread A

steep
change in grade allows
direct access to the secondlevel fitness room after
arrival at ground-level
parking.
This page Workout room
provides pleasant shaded
views to magnificent trees.
Facing page, clockwise
from top right The

two-story building assumes the appearance of a
one-story structure. View
from golf course. Operable
windows open to create
natural cross-ventilation
on temperate days.

story building in deference to the existing clubhouse, a two-story concept
was conceived to accommodate a steep change in grade and to connect
with parking, the clubhouse, and pool decks. Set down into the cascading
terrain, the building is accessed through the main entry from the parking
lot, allowing the patron to arrive at the second level and proceed directly
into the fitness area. The building is linked to the clubhouse by an established outdoor walkway system leading through the well-groomed landscape.
The center’s main fitness room houses treadmills, stationary bikes, and
elliptical machines. Off to one side is the free- and resistance-weight area.
A separate room on the western end of the plan accommodates group fitness classes including Pilates, Yoga, and step classes. Behind the main area
are complete men’s and women’s locker room facilities. The center also
contains a room for massage services and child care. Fitness center director
Maria Trimm says the additional services are “fully used” by members.
The lower floor — containing the food services kitchen with a walk-up
snack bar and deli, indoor dining and restrooms — opens directly onto
the amenity deck. During season, the pool and dining level features The
Terrace, a poolside restaurant offering healthy items along with traditional
snack bar fare. The doors can be opened completely to allow diners the
benefit of a seamless flow of service between indoor and outdoor seating
areas. Around the corner from The Terrace is The Turn, providing golfers
with food and refreshment. All of these amenities are housed in a spectacular 13,650-sf building overlooking the Hightower Pool, golf course, and
rolling terrain that leads to the hilltop tennis facility.
Unencumbered by the inclusion of vertical circulation between the
floors, the plans efficiently maximize every square foot of space for functional usage. Accessible entry routes are provided on each level by carefully

58 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

The passive environmental design allows for
natural ventilation of the fitness areas.
considered ramps landscaped on either side. Exiting capacity is accommodated by the use of exterior stairs, allowing for convenient use of both levels
from either end of the building. Lack of internal accessibility from one floor
to the other is not a hindrance to usability; rather, it creates an appropriate segregation of use between the pool and dining facilities and the fitness
aficionados.
Set apart, yet complementing the main clubhouse, the new fitness
center completes a vibrant campus that accommodates some 720 members.
Center usage averages between 60 and 100 member visits daily. Director
Trimm says the building siting and orientation allow for great views of the
pool area, the tee box, and the tenth-hole green and fairways. “Parents can
even get in a workout on the equipment in the main room while keeping
an eye on the kids at the pool,” she says. Sower observes that “the passive
environmental design allows for natural ventilation of the fitness areas,
shades the east-facing glassy walls, uses thermal mass, and minimizes
western fenestration and the impact of afternoon sun.” On many spring
and fall days, patrons or staff can operate the outward-opening windows
using a hand crank on the sill to regulate the fresh air and cross-breezes to
ventilate the workout areas.
draws from a regional vernacular that complements
the natural vegetation of the site. Careful attention to detail and appropriate use of materials — as in the wood-beam framed roof structure and the
natural Texas stone-clad exterior — are exhibited throughout, reflecting
The materials palette

the designer’s sensitivity to scale, value, and “fit.” The thoughtful proportions of the great room with its natural materials in the high ceiling and its
tall windows creates the sensation of working out in the cool shade of those
magnificent trees surrounding the building. It should be noted that the
careful placement of the structure on the site required the removal of only
one tree, which happened to be diseased and subject to removal anyway.
Further pursuit of a natural aesthetic resulted in ductwork being routed
beneath the floor, allowing for exposed ceiling structure and wood deck
unencumbered by ducts. Even the mandatory fire suppression system has
meticulously concealed piping that, though inconspicuous, still provides
sprinkler heads the appropriate exposure for effective coverage in the
event of fire. The precise alignment of the fixtures and built components
along with the simple joinery of materials contribute to an overall serenity.
Smooth Japanese stones in the locker area shower floors are placed with
craftsman-like precision, providing users not only with non-slip surfaces
but also soothing foot massages after a workout. On the lower level, a
return to the warm natural stone and wood tones, and lighting in the
dining area, contribute to a vibrant and enticing environment.
As a natural complement to its campus, this state-of-the-art fitness
center deepens the commitment of Northwood Club to its members. The
peaceful setting tucked into rolling hills and surrounded by vegetation
fosters the feeling of a resort — a quiet retreat from the noisy environment
a few hundred feet away on Dallas’ busy city streets. From its layout to its
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be there.

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For Alexis McKinney, AIA, the “road to
registration” has led to the past. And today, her
interest in historic preservation has led to downtown Houston, where McKinney and colleague
Gerald Moorhead, FAIA, peruse two historic
houses (1904 and 1905) that have been “mothballed” and relocated to a dramatic site yards
from the city’s 42,000-seat baseball stadium.
The project is one of several McKinney is working on.
Although McKinney can’t reveal many
details, she manages to give a compelling tour
while graciously deflecting questions that compromise the owner’s request for privacy. It’s a
perfect example of her ability to balance competing interests and successfully accomplish the task
at hand.
A graduate of Texas A&M University and a
recently licensed architect, McKinney practices
with the award-winning Houston firm Bailey
Architects, where she specializes in historic
projects. She credits travel (as a young child
her parents took her to Taliesin West) and art
history for her interest in architecture. “I didn’t
think about being an architect until I took an art
history course in high school,” she says. “I have
a visual memory, so I found it really interesting.

I like stories, and in art history there is a story
behind each piece. By the end of the course, I
knew I wanted to pursue architecture.”
both her bachelor’s
and master’s degrees at A&M, became interested
in historic buildings through the university’s
Center for Heritage Conservation, which was
established by esteemed preservation architect
and now emeritus director David Woodcock,
FAIA. She was involved in several of the center’s
research projects, including documentation of
the Pointe du Hoc site in France with a 3-D laser
scanner and with hand drawings that meet the
Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey standard. “I did that over a couple of
years and was able to be employed on the project
during graduate school,” she says. “It was a
unique and wonderful experience.”
McKinney also travelled to China on a
fellowship the summer before the 2008 Olympics and was able to see the construction and
redevelopment of the districts. “Because of AIAS
connections, I knew of this fellowship and asked
professors what I needed to do, what I needed
to develop, and how I could present my application in a way that it would be awarded the travel
McKinney, who completed

7/8 2012

Texas Architect 61

grant,” she says. “I think I’ve tried to make the
most out of the opportunities I’ve heard about.”
After graduation, McKinney and her
husband, a meteorologist, moved to Galveston
in 2008 but were forced to relocate to Houston
after losing half their belongings as Hurricane
Ike hit the island in September. She was drawn
to Bailey Architects both because of the historic
projects they work on and also because it’s not
the main focus of the firm. “It’s a small portion
of the work,” she says, “and there are opportunities for variation. So it’s not always preservation,

At school I was the AIAS president, and I’m
used to being involved. I see how it helped enrich
my school experience and helped me to form
relationships.

McKinney meets with
engineers and other project
team members outside
of Building 1 at Camp
Mabry in Austin.

62 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

or libraries, or liturgical projects; it’s a mix.” She
adds that, to be a well-rounded architect, she
feels it’s important to know what new construction looks like for different project types.
In addition to the downtown Houston houses,
McKinney is working on the update of an existing Caddo heritage museum in Alto, Texas, and
restoration of a 1918 administration building at
Camp Mabry in Austin. The museum project in
Alto, a state historic site overseen by the Texas
Historical Commission, includes adding new
exhibit space and accessible restrooms, along
with interesting design elements — such as
transparent display window imagery — that puts
the focus less on artifacts and more on the Caddo
people themselves. “Nothing’s been done since
the museum was built in the 70s, so there’s a lot
that we need to do to update it,” says McKinney.
to Austin’s Camp
Mabry, where McKinney is working again with
Moorhead, an associate principal at Bailey who
leads the firm’s preservation/restoration work.
“Alexis is so smart and talented, and she learns
quickly,” Moorhead says. “She has a very good
focus and a perfect education to match it. She
has a great career ahead of her.”
Her focus on this day at Camp Mabry is a
project that involves restoring and updating
Building 1, which is similar to two other buildings the firm has already completed on the site.
The Administration building has a masonry
exterior and a wood structure for the interior. “A
lot of the original structure was removed in the
70s, so we need to investigate to see how much
is still there,” McKinney says. “Many of the colDays later the scene shifts

umns were taken out and replaced with bearing
walls, so we’ll be removing those bearing walls
and putting columns back in.” She is motivated
by the satisfaction that will come with restoring
the building’s original light quality and transparency, which has been compromised over the
years from several interior renovations.
back to Houston there is time to
focus on a busy schedule that goes beyond work
to include active involvement in her community
and with other architecture professionals, especially the Historic Resources committees at the
chapter and state level. “These committees focus
on raising awareness of historic properties and
their value,” she says. “We even try to educate
other AIA members about the value of existing
buildings as candidates for sustainable re-use and
rehabilitation. Or as assets with cultural value or
that contribute to a sense of place.”
McKinney is pleased that her firm supports her professional involvement at the state
and local levels because she has always been
an enthusiastic participant in extracurricular
activities. “At school I was the AIAS president,
and I’m used to being involved,” she says. “I see
how it helped enrich my school experience and
helped me to form relationships — and that was
crucial to finding a job in preservation, because
those positions are few.” Now that she is “fresh
out of school and in a new city,” Alexis sees her
participation in AIA and Texas Architects activities as “a great way to meet other people and
other professionals.”
Three years since her graduation, McKinney is aware of only a few friends she went to
school with who have also become licensed as
architects. “I think pursuing registration is one
of the first things you do that’s not part of a
scheduled program,” she says. “In school, they
have tests scheduled or project deadlines, but this
is something that is completely up to you, and
the office isn’t going to tell you when you have to
have it done. I think a lot of people have trouble
staying focused.” For McKinney, that’s clearly
not a problem.
On the road

historic homes
in downtown Houston, relocated and “mothballed”
by Bailey Architects. A
material sample from a
1900s-era column to be
restored by McKinney and
the project team.
Left McKinney investigates multiple layers
beneath sheetrock in a
1900s house.

7/8 2012

Texas Architect 63

Placemaking at 500 Chicon

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Originally designed for HemisFair ’68 as a performing arts center for the world’s fair, the 2400seat Lila Cockrell Theater is today, an integral
part of the city’s convention center. The facility
remained untouched by renovation or remodeling for over 40 years.
The design team of Marmon Mok Architecture was challenged to create a fresh, modern
expression of the rich San Antonio cultural heritage consistent with the City’s vision; integrate
the city’s brand; incorporate public art; replace
existing infrastructure; and repurpose the use of
the auditorium for convention events. The extensive renovation encompassed four major spaces:
the Public Lobbies, Theater House, Stage, and
Convention support rooms with access to the
San Antonio Riverwalk.
The team implemented a quatrefoil design to
solidify the city’s culture and tourism brand in
the form of ceiling light coves, custom aluminum
sconces, seating textiles, carpeting, air grilles,
elevator cabs and signage. The colors selected for
the project were bright neutrals with a “theatre
red” accent to replace the dark colors of the
existing theatre. To brighten the lobby space,
the walls were clad with a veneer plaster in a
limestone finish, handrails were replaced with a
frosted glass rail system, and an arched ceiling
cloud system was added to pay homage to the
line of the exterior windows.
The lighting design incorporates custom
fixtures as well as the refurbishment of two of the
original glass chandeliers. Punched aluminum
curved sconces and quatrefoil ceiling light coves
employ the use of formed patterned resin panels,
accented in red, with a center disc light fixture.
The 104,000-sf renovation costs were $22 million,
and the theater reopened in November 2010.

Dallas firm Brown Reynolds Watford Architects’
69,500-sf Music Building for the Department of
Music at Texas A&M University – Commerce
meets the rapidly growing needs of the music
program. Sited at the main entrance of the
campus, the Music Building is designed to reflect
the aesthetic and materials of musical instruments, while acting as a gateway to the entire
campus. Exterior brick, stone, and wood panels,
along with patterned glass, carry through to the
interior for a unified integration of materials. A
two-story, light-filled lobby with full height patterned glazing along the south facade provides
access to two performance spaces and serves as
a reception area. The lobby extends outside to a
large covered patio providing opportunities for
informal gatherings.
The focal point of the facility is a 550-seat
concert hall that supports all of the music disciplines and strengthens outreach to the community. In addition to four rehearsal halls, faculty
offices serve as private studios for one-on-one
and small group instruction, and spaces require
the same level of acoustical separation as the
practice rooms and rehearsal halls. In addition,
the new facility creates space for student practice, keyboard labs, traditional classrooms, and
administrative offices.
Energy efficiency is obtained with fritted glass
used to filter in natural light and deep overhangs
for shading the glass lobby entrance.

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The James and Nancy Gaertner Performing
Arts Center at Sam Houston State University in
Huntsville was designed to have a distinct identity in contrast to many of the simple flat-roofed
buildings constructed on campus to accommodate as much program space as possible.
Designed by WHR Architects, the new arts
center features sloped roofs clad in bronze metal
panels that allow large volumes of space required
of the dance theater and the concert hall to be
expressed architecturally. By cantilevering the
dance studios over the ground level, access to
utility lines below was preserved and buildable
area was increased.
Taking advantage of the effect created by the
cantilever, the north-facing studios were sheathed
in 15’ glass walls. Wood cladding used throughout
the concert and recital halls imbue them with
warmth and hide utilities. An outdoor performance space placed at the end of the first story
lobby bridges the 17’ drop between the grade
entry of the new center with the grade entry of
the music and theater buildings and also serves
as overflow for the lobby when two performances
are in place at the same time. A clerestory above
an open stair connecting upper-level dance spaces
with the lower-level dance theater brings natural
light to the center of the building.
The two-story lobby was designed to be a
performance area as well as a gathering area for
patrons of both the dance theater and the concert
hall. An upper-level balcony within the lobby
allows a small ensemble to fill the space with
music. A hanging sculpture by SHSU alum James
Surls hangs just off a balcony bridge. The new
center has instilled an elevated sense of pride in

this community, which until now was known for
its prisons rather than the arts. It gives the community a different perspective on what it means to
be in Huntsville. Since the opening of the center,
the City of Huntsville has been named the first of
seven cultural districts in Texas.

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Marketplace

A beta version of the wikiinspired app is available at
www.hsaustin.org.

Austin Historical Survey Wiki Seeks
Participants
The City of Austin Historic Preservation Office
has been working in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin (UT) School of Architecture Historic Preservation program to develop
a participatory, wiki-inspired web application
to support the comprehensive survey of Austin’s
historic resources. The community launch took
place June 4. The Heritage Society of Austin has
partnered on this project by assisting in securing funding and providing volunteer support in
adding content to the Wiki.
of the Wiki project by taking photographs of City of Austin
Landmarks and assisting in gathering and
uploading other data including: historic zoning
ordinances, historic narratives of City of Austin
Historic Landmarks and other historically significant properties; and uploading information
from previous Heritage Homes Tours and other
HSA events. These tasks can be done at the HSA
offices or offsite. To volunteer, or for more information about either of these tasks, e-mail isaac@
hsaustin.org or call (512) 474-5198.
You can be an important part

CE Credits Available through Texas
Architects-AEC Knowledge Partnership
Texas Architects has partnered with aecKnowledge—an innovative, online knowledge-sharing
platform for the AEC industries. As an established provider of high-quality video continuing
education, aecKnowledge features top thought
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information, visit www.texasarchitects.org/v/continuing-education.

Texas Courthouses on List of America’s
11 Most Endangered Historic Places
On June 6, the National Trust for Historic
Preservation (NTHP) released its 2012 list of
America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
The list includes Texas Courthouses. NTHP,
a private nonprofit organization, has produced
the annual list for 25 years, drawing attention
to more than 230 sites—including buildings,
landscapes, and entire communities—that risk
destruction or significant damage.

Marketplace

“Now is a time of profound change within the
Institute.”

AIA Releases Annual Institute Update
During the May 19 American Institute of Architects Business Meeting at the AIA Convention in
Washington, D.C, EVP/Chief Executive Officer
Robert Ivy, FAIA, began his presentation with
the simple idea that now is a time of profound
change within the Institute and beyond, as
evidenced by the ambitious repositioning effort
the AIA announced in April, the demographic
transitions that will soon remake the AIA’s membership base, and the still-struggling economy
that has left architects unmoored in an unstable
financial climate for the last few years.
AIA President Jeff Potter, FAIA, and
Council of Architectural Component Executives
Director Vicki Long reviewed the past months
and months ahead in the annual “Institute
Update.” Read highlights of the institute update
at www.aia.org/practicing/AIAB089537.
Ivy,

Close-ups of the Spanish
explorer and the goat boy
from the Tejano Monument
sculpted by Armando Hinojosa. The granite setting was
designed by Jaime Beaman,
AIA, with design assistance
from Lars Stanley, FAIA,
for the bronze railing and
plaque supports.

Remembering the Tejanos
by Larry Paul Fuller

B

the idea of a Tejano
monument in 2001, and after a long road to
fruition, the 250-ton installation featuring 11
life-size bronze statues was dedicated on the
Capitol’s south lawn March 29. And of course
Jaime Beaman was there, because it was he who
designed the setting for the bronze pieces created by Laredo artist Armando Hinojosa. The
ensemble includes a vaquero (cowboy) on his
mustang, two longhorns, a family of settlers, and
— at the highest level of the base and facing the
Capitol building — a Spanish explorer surveying
the broad sweep of land.
The Legislature approved

76 Texas Architect

7/8 2012

Beaman points to two major turning points
in the design process that made a big difference.
The first was convincing board members in
charge of the process (including the Texas State
Preservation Board) that the initial concept of “a
large marble structure with columns, arches, and
pedestals” was ill-conceived. “I told them, ‘This

Tejanos tamed the frontier,
introduced cattle ranching and
farming, and even fought for
independence.
is a Roman temple,’” Jaime recalls. ‘We are not
Romans, we are Tejanos!’” Next, he succeeded
in selling the idea of mounting the statues on an
“outcropping” of granite rock. Even better, the
final execution results from Beaman’s selection
of a single piece of rock from the Marble Falls
area, the source for the granite in the Capitol.
There he selected stone “with a beautiful black
vein running through it,” and worked with rock
sculptors to determine the final contours of the
stone and how the statues would be placed.
“When we placed the final sculpture (the cow),
I was overwhelmed with the emotion,” Beaman
recalls. “My part of the monument was as perfect
as I could make it.”
Larry Paul Fuller is guest editor of Texas Architect.

MONUMENT PHOTO BY RICK PATRICK PHOTOGRAPHY; DETAILS BY JULIE PIZZO

ack in the year 2000, McAllen
physician Cayetano Barrera was
visiting the Texas Capitol grounds
when he noticed that none of their
18 monuments recognized the story
of Texas’ early Spanish and Mexican explorers
and settlers — an account that dates back to
1519 when Spaniards first arrived on the coast.
“In fact, the history of Texas was being told
as if it all started with Anglos at the battle of
the Alamo,” says Jaime Beaman, AIA, of Casa
Bella Architects in Austin. “Absent was the
earlier history made by Tejanos, who were the
descendants of Spanish and Mexican settlers.
They tamed the frontier, introduced cattle
ranching and farming, and even fought for
independence.”

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